Erik ten Hag revealed that Manchester United channeled the 'madness and anger' stemming from the perceived injustice of Matthijs de Ligt being ordered off due to a head injury before Brentford's controversial opening goal to power a 2-1 second-half comeback victory at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Ethan Pinnock's strike from a corner in added-time occurred while De Ligt was receiving treatment, marking the third time he needed medical attention. As he was off the pitch, Pinnock headed home, prompting protests from the defender, Ten Hag, and Ruud van Nistelrooy, with the manager and his assistant subsequently booked.
Within two minutes of the second half, Alejandro Garnacho equalized, followed by Rasmus Højlund's first league goal of the season on the 66th minute, securing the win. 'You see how we turned it around – we felt some injustice and used it as fuel, the madness and anger. I really enjoyed the performance,' said the manager.
Given De Ligt's bandage had failed to stop the bleeding, Ten Hag was questioned about his strong protest. 'It was dry blood so he was already treated for the injury,' he explained. 'I didn’t understand why he was sent [to the touchline]. I went over to Matthijs and he said: ‘It is dry blood and I have to come off – I don’t know why.’ A huge moment because Brentford is very good at corners and you miss one of your best headers [to defend the set piece].'
The victory marked United's first league win since their 3-0 triumph over Southampton four games ago, and their first goals since that match. United climbed from 14th to 10th with 11 points, but Ten Hag downplayed the result as a turning point. 'No, it is just a win. The last block [of matches] we didn’t win enough but we only lost one game [3-0 to Spurs] and that was when we were down to 10 [players] and afterwards everyone agreed we shouldn’t be down to 10.'
'The only thing we had to do was score goals, we were in good spots but were not clinical and determined enough. What didn’t help was Rasmus being injured at the start of the season but now he is back. But we have enough players with scoring abilities and today we scored two great goals.'
Thomas Frank expressed disappointment. 'To concede a goal after two minutes disappoints me and the momentum just changed,' said Brentford’s manager.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
